His feet hit the cold metal floors, as his
teleportation came to an end.He
slipped out of his black leather jacket, carefully examining the large burn
hole in the back.

He could still feel the sting of Riff's
music.He easily eliminated the one
called Megaman for an indefinite period of time.It wasn't long before Megaman's brother, Riff, made himself
known.

And it was Wily's fault.

"What do you want, goat-boy?"
Pak barely suppressed his rage.In one tussle,
he had lost his glasses, his jacket, and the ability to protect himself from
any harm.All due to Wiley's
attention-grabbing hologram.

"You are very stressed, Pak."
Wily avoided the question."Why
don't you sit down?"

"Sit down, 'eh?" Pak's eyes
narrowed at the short man."I take
it that means you don't have my money?"

Wily scoffed."Six million is a lot to ask for, especially when Captain N
isn't in Videoland anymore."

"I'm not leaving without my
payment."

"And I'm not paying you without
Captain N out of my hair forever."

"I don't do cross dimensional jobs,
Wily.Which looks like we need to alter
the deal a little."

"Fine.Six million for the remaining N Team members."

"Ten."Pak's remark almost sent Wily to the floor.As it was, the scientist's jaw hung enough
to allow the Orient Express to pass through.

"You realize, without that glove,
you're just plain ol' Douglas Piedmont, would be Game Master."

"Yeah," Pak sneered."But I got the glove.Which means I'm Pak."

Wily grunted
in an animalistic manner.It was a
trait that earned him the name goat-boy while in the presence of Pak."Fine.Ten million.But it's going to
be difficult, so I better give you something."Wily reached into a cabinet and retrieved a large black,
mechanical box."This device will
double the damage your glove can inf--" Pak snatched the device from Wily's
hands.

"It will, huh?" Pak looked at
the device and viciously threw it against the wall.Not to Pak's surprise, it stayed right where it made
contact."You tried to wipe out
years of data and weapons with a disguised electro-magnet." He turned from
the wall to the goat-boy"Wily,
you ungrateful piece of sh--"

"Doctor Wily!" Cuts Man rushed
into the lab.

"What is it, Cuts Man?"

"The N Team!They've sent us a message!"

"A message?What does it say?"

Gutsman entered, tossing the body of Snake
Man on the cold floor.

"Quite a bit." Pak frowned.

"Did you need to do that?" Mike
Vincent asked the temporary Mega Man, Riff.The remaining N Team members, Simon Belmont, Kid Icarus, Gameboy, Romeo,
Julius, and Stacey were seated at a large conference table, with three seats
left vacant."I mean it was
probably just a surveillance mission."

Riff
examined the skull of the young man."Dude, you got this big freakin' vein right there that's ready to
bust outta ya forehead."A few
giggles were heard."Well, here's the deal.The Videoland Tecmodome has an outstanding contract
with 'the Video Game Masters.'"

"Our band?" Stacey questioned.

"The same.Apparently the band was scheduled to play one additional
concert."

"I'm getting tired of playing a
concert every week, though."

"And I'm sure they hate
listening.The officials of Tecmoland
know Kevin and Lana aren't here, but still say someone must play
tonight."Riff waited for new
complaints."No suggestions?Fine.Mike, Stacey and I'll take the concert.The other part can be filled in by a droid."

"What about us?" Romeo probed."What do we do during all this?"

"You're security.I'll be out in the open.Pak'll love that."

"If he knows." Mike added.

"He knows.Trust me, he knows."Again, Riff paused."We'll
set up now. if we can get innocents out of the way ahead of time, I'd like to
do that."

"Then why am I on stage?" Mike
asked.

"Human shield."

"I see," The resident game
master sank into his chair.

Riff eyed the crowds of the stadium,
searching for Pak in any shape or form. He turned to the drummer, Mike Vincent."I don't see 'im."

"You sound depressed," Mike
announced from behind the equipment."What's up?"

An idea popped into Mike's head."You set this up on purpose, didn't
you?You want Pak to find you."

"Would you rather wait for him to
ambush _us_?"

Mike shook his head.

"Then we do things my way for
now." Riff inhaled deeply."Time to get this over with."Riff walked to the microphone.

"Uhm, Riff, about your musical
selection..."

"What?"

"Well, we normally play the theme
from a video game or something."

"I don't play games, and in case you
haven't noticed I'm not an actual member of the band."

"Okay, good point."

"Then it's settled.Ready?"Mike nodded as Riff spoke into the mic. "Ladies and
Gentlemen, Kevin Keene and Princess Lana couldn't be here tonight."A few 'awws' and 'boos' were sent
forth."Allow me to introduce
myself.My name is Riff.My friends and I will be ensuring you get
your money's worth out of this concert."

"Go home, butt-munch!" came from
the crowd.

"I do strongly believe that your
favorites will return home soon---"

"You're an idiot, Riff---"

"SHUT UP!" Riff leaned off the
stage, staring at the heckler from a nameless video game."I'll kick your ass!"The no name punk instantly melded into the
crowd."Mike," he said, off
of the microphone, "count us off."

Mike clunked his drumsticks together."One, two, one two three four..."

Riff
immediately took the mic.

C'mon, Pretty Baby,

Put your little hand in mine.

Feet are shakin' on the dance floor,

Everybody's doin' fine.

Don't waste another minute,

Step into the light.

C'mon, and dance with me, tonight

Tell your Momma that we're leavin',

Tell your Daddy that we're gone.

Tell everyone in Philadelphia,

There's a party goin' on.

So move a little closer,

Lemme hold ya tight,

C'mon, and dance with me, tonight!

As Riff made magic with his guitar, none
of the N Teamsters working security noticed PAK drift in.He slipped in unnoticed, working his way
forward in the crowd that had erupted.

A brown denim vest took the place of his
leather jacket.His hair was tightly
pulled back as not to interfere with his peripheral vision, and his sunglasses
were almost identical to his previous pair had the width not been extended on
the lenses.

C'mon... there's a party goin' on,

C'mon... we'll be rockin' till dawn,

C'mon... lemme sweep ya off ya feet,

C'mon pretty baby won't ya dance
with me.

Tell your Momma that we're leavin

Tell your Daddy that we're gone.

Tell everyone in Philadelphia,

There's a party goin' on.

So move a little closer,

Lemme hold ya tight,

C'mon, and dance with me, tonight!

Pak began programming his glove.As quickly as he could think, he pressed the
code of invincibility.Up.Up.Down.Down.Left.Right.B.A.B. A.Finally, ENTER.A brief blue light stemmed from within the
bounty hunter, confirming the results.

C'mon, pretty baby!

Carefully Pak raised his arm.

C'mon, pretty darlin'!

So move a little closer,

Lemme hold ya tight,

C'mon, and dance with me tonight!

Not one second after the song had
finished, Riff dodged a fireball that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Your dance card's full, boy!"

"Oh great," Riff spat."I didn't actually expect my plan to
work."

"Uhmmm," Mike climbed from
behind his drums."I guess this is
where that human shield comes into play?"

A devilish smile crept over Riff's
lips.He titled the microphone stand
towards him."Ladies and
Gentlemen, the mosh pit is now open."

"Oh crap.." Pak was soon
consumed by the thrashing masses that were the crowd.

"That should keep 'im busy,"
Riff commented.

"Till we do what?" Mike
asked.He received no answer."Riff?"

"Mom?" Kevin swung open the
front door of his Northridge home."Mom?I'm home."Nothing but silence filled the halls."Hmph, she must be out."

"You're not seriously just gonna sit
here until Pak forgets about you, are you?" Rick folded his arms."It's not what you normally do."

"I've never had bounty hunter come
after me before.Besides, Mike and Riff
can take care of things."

"I hope so," Lana added."A kingdom is difficult to run.Good thing a lot of my decrees are typed, Xeroxed
and posted in refueling stations."Kevin shot her one of those 'you-have-got-to-be-kidding' looks."Well, you reach the most influential
people that way.Does your ruler do
things like that?"

"No, usually interns."Lana looked perplexed at Kevin's
remark.He advised it'd be best to
ignore it."Anyway, if the guys
have problems I'm sure they'll handle 'em sensibly."

"Oh, we're in it now..." Mike
choked.

The crowd of pit-goers had dissipated, and
Pak would be out in the open had it not been for one factor.

"Shoot me, and you shoot her!"
Pak held a female concert goer in with one hand, and aimed the gloved hand
towards Riff.His weapon began to glow
with power."And you don't have
the jam to do it."

Riff clenched his teeth, listening in his
mind, over and over again, to what he had just been told.Unexpectedly, he plucked at one of the
strings on his instrument.A small dart
of energy leapt from the guitar and hit the girl square in the shoulder.She fell to the ground, unconscious.

Riff smiled."Y'want some peanut butter with that jam?"

"You---" Pak looked at the
slumped girl before his feet."You-- You killed my hostage."He glared at his latest peeve."YOU KILLED MY HOSTAGE!"

Riff
shrugged."Deal."

"Umm, Riff," Mike spoke up,
stepping out from behind his drums."We've never done that sort of stuff."

The newest addition to the Right family
spoke in a low whisper."Don't
worry, just a concussion dart.She'll
wake up in two minutes."

"Okay.If you say so."

"Nothin' to hide behind, Pak.Why don't you run along and update your
playbook?"

Riff attached his guitar to a magnetized
plate on his back."Cuz we don't
have a pocket teleporter that responds to brainwaves.Or at least that's my best guess."Riff flipped up a plate on his left forearm."Pop?"

[Go ahead, Riff.] Doctor Right replied
over the comlink.

"Status report on project: piss 'im
off even more."

[Pardon?]

Riff huffed."Is it ready?"

[Oh... yes, it's completed.]

"Great, see ya in five."Riff jumped off of the stage and made his
way through the crowd.